The MODIS/Terra Aerosol 5-Min L2 Swath 10km (MOD04_L2) product provides full global coverage of aerosol properties from the Dark Target (DT) and Deep Blue (DB) algorithms. The DT algorithm is applied over ocean and dark land (e.g., vegetation), while the DB algorithm now covers the entire land areas including both dark and bright surfaces. Both results are provided on a 10x10 pixel scale (10 km at nadir). Each MOD04_L2 product file covers a five-minute time interval. The output grid is 135 pixels in width by 203 pixels in length. Every tenth file has an output grid size of 135 by 204 pixels. MOD04_L2 product files are stored in Hierarchical Data Format (HDF-EOS).
The new Collection 6.1 (C61) MOD04_L2 product is an improved version based on algorithm changes in Dark Target (DT) Aerosol retrieval over urban areas and uncertainty estimates for Deep Blue (DB) Aerosol retrievals.
The MODIS level-2 atmospheric aerosol product provides retrieved ambient aerosol optical properties, quality assurance, and other parameters, globally over ocean and land. In Collection 5 and in earlier collections, there was only one aerosol product (MOD04_L2) at 10km (at nadir) spatial resolution. Starting from C6, the Dark Target (DT) Aerosol algorithm team provided a new 3 km spatial resolution product (MOD04_3k) intended for the air quality community.
For more information visit the MODIS Atmosphere website at:
https://modis-atmos.gsfc.nasa.gov/products/aerosol
And, for C6.1 changes and updates, visit:
https://modis-atmosphere.gsfc.nasa.gov/documentation/collection-61